Compositions comprising silica gel reacted with metal ions provide improved chillproofing and processing of beer and other brewed beverages. The compositions provide processing advantages with most beers but are especially useful in treating the so-called high malt beer and other beers that are known to be difficult to chillproof.
The term "beer," as used in this specification and claims, includes many types of brewed beverages. Such beverages include lager, Pilsner, Dortmund and Munich beers. Other such beverages are ale, porter and stout.
Beer and other beverages brewed from grains are complex solutions containing numerous organic solutes. Some of these compounds undergo reactions depending on how and how long the beverage is stored. One troubling reaction is the development of haze on aging and chilling. This haze is objectionable to consumers of the beverage.
A number of methods and products have been developed to remove sufficient of the haze former to prevent its formation. These methods or products are used before bottling and include the use of various adsorbents such as silica hydrogels and/or xerogels; calcium, aluminum and magnesium silicates; several types of clays or minerals; and mixtures thereof. U.S. Patents that disclose such art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,163,538; 3,251,693; 3,436,225; 3,617,301; 3,940,498; and 3,958,023. U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,294 discloses a combination of silica gel and magnesium silicate as an effective chillproofer for some beers.
Not all beers are equally easy to stabilize against chill haze formation. Sfat, "MBAA Technical Quarterly" 12, 4,243-248 (1975), teaches that some beers can be stabilized with 1 to 2 pounds of polyvinylpolypyrollidone (PVPP) and 3 to 4 pounds of silica gel for each 100 bbls of beer. More difficult beers require 3 to 4 pounds of PVPP and 3 to 4 pounds of silica hydrogel for each 100 bbls of beer for effective stabilization.
It is an object of this invention to provide a chillproofing agent that is effective in beers that are difficult to treat and that can be used with shorter contact times or in lower doses for beers that are easier to chillproof. It is also an objective of this invention to provide a method and product that do not involve PVPP in chillproofing higher malt beers.